Havana, Sep 20 (EFE).- Cuban President Raul Castro met in Havana with his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez, who traveled to the island to attend the Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate in the Cuban capital on Sunday, state television reported.

Castro and Fernandez met on Saturday and discussed the state of bilateral relations and ways of strengthening the relationship.

The two leaders also discussed other topics, including integration efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Fernandez arrived in Havana on Saturday with a delegation that includes Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, Religious Affairs Secretary Guillermo Olivieri, presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro and Argentine Ambassador to the Holy See Eduardo Valdes, among other officials.

The Argentine president told reporters that she supported Cuba’s efforts to end the U.S. economic embargo and considered it “a great honor” to attend the Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate in the Plaza of the Revolution, calling it a “historic event.”

“We’ll always be with Cuba against the economic blockade, trade and financial. There is no democratic country in Latin America or the world that doesn’t repudiate this U.S. policy,” Fernandez said, adding that “the walls and blockades will continue to fall and when they don’t fall through our efforts, they end up falling due to the weight of history.”

Fernandez’s comments came a day after the U.S. government announced an easing of the embargo rules that will allow Americans to more easily travel, do business, send remittances and provide telecommunications services to Cuba. EFE